


To Love and be Loved

by Johanna_002



Category: Orange is the New Black
Genre: F/F, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:21:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26711362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Johanna_002/pseuds/Johanna_002
Summary: Nicky hosts a charity event for the at-risk youth center that she's building, meanwhile, Red and Gloria have fallen in love. For once life is perfect. One-shot.
Relationships: Gloria Mendoza/Galina "Red" Reznikov
Kudos: 5





	To Love and be Loved

-01-

Galina Reznikov was stunning in red. Her dress was a bright, eye-catching color, beaded sequences sewed into it that seemed to catch the light with every angle she moved.

It shouldn't have been a surprise, for as long as anyone had known her, it'd always been her signature color. From her natural red hair (which she now dyed) to her bold red lips, to even the nickname that she was given in Litchfield, red had been a color and an energy that she had encompassed and embraced whole-heartedly.

"She looks beautiful, doesn't she?"

Gloria turned her head at the question and smiled as Nicky joined her, an offered glass of champagne in her extended hand. "Very," she smiled, bringing the flute to her lips.

"You look nice too," Nicky told her. "Mr. Weston over there," she nodded with her head in the direction of an elderly man, "has been staring at you for the last hour."

"At me or my ass?" Gloria self-consciously smoothed her hand down the black and nude ball gown that she was wearing. She'd felt men starring at her no matter which part of the room she was standing in, and if it wasn't them, then it was their wives.

"Both?" Nicky guessed, with a shrug of her shoulders. "You have a nice one. I'd stare at it too."

Gloria rolled her eyes. "Are you enjoying your night?" she asked, changing the direction of the conversation.

Nicky nodded, pushing back her large, voluminous mane off her sweaty forehead. "Yea," she shrugged. "It could be better if I didn't have to make so many pleasantries. I don't know how Marka does this."

"Practice. You'll get there," Gloria encouraged her.

Nicky sighed, her left hand making its way into the pocket of her emerald green jumpsuit. 2020 had been quite a year, a strange twist to the last decade that she had endured. After being released from prison and being clean for the first time in her adult life, Nicky had vowed to take every chance she got, and not waste any more of her energy being angry and bitter.

She'd held onto to those feelings for so long. First with her father, for leaving and, then with her mother for being such an impossible, broken woman. For nearly thirty years she had held onto every transgression that her parents had made against her: Divorce, missed ballet and piano recitals; debate sessions, and birthdays.

She was so angry with her parents. She was angry at them for breaking her to the point that she believed drugs were the only things that loved her. She was angry at her mother enabling her habit with money, but she was also angry at her for forcing her into rehab. She was angry at Marka for not loving her the way she needed to be loved.

Most of all, she hated her father. As much as she hated her mother, she could sincerely say she hated her father more. She hated him for breaking her mother, and for turning her into this walking, reconstructed, broken vase, who couldn't see past her own damage. For the longest time, she had hated both of them. She despised the air that they breathed, the ground that they walked on, and she believed that their entire existence in the world was the reason for her pain and suffering.

She could have easily spent a lifetime brewing in that hatred, and for nearly three decades, she had. Her anger and her bitterness had not only led her down the path of becoming an addict, but it had led to her to manifest that anger and hatred into ruining her own life. In wanting to punish them, she had only ever punished herself.

Now, having gotten to the other side, and growing up to understand a bit about the complexities that colored her home, she could see that self-destruction was not the answer. Heroin wouldn't fix the void that needed filling, and it wouldn't love her the way she needed to be loved.

That feeling of being loved and being valued hadn't started to make its way into her heart until she had allowed it to. Until she had done something for herself that boosted her confidence in accepting that she was worthy of love. In order to do that, she had to stop punishing herself. She had to stop hurting herself.

She had to give up heroin.

Not an easy feat by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, without the woman in red making her way toward her, it wouldn't have even been an idea she would have entertained. The truth of the matter was, she had all but resigned herself to death, accepting that one day—one perfect day—she'd overdose and fade into the nothingness that she'd always believed herself to be.

Now, as Red, her mother, embraced her tightly in her arms, she melted. There was nowhere else she wanted to be. This was the high she'd spent her whole life chasing. The euphoria of what it felt like to be truly loved was the only overdose she ever wanted to experience. Inhaling her mother's warm scent, she felt her heart flip.

"Honey, I'm so proud of you!" Red praised her. "I can't believe what you've been able to do, this place looks amazing. Do you know how many donors have pledged contributions to the center you are trying to open up?" She spoke so excitedly, her accent thickened. "The mayor is here. His wife! His wife complimented my dress!" She touched her hand to her heart. "Me!"

Nicky and Gloria laughed. When the news had first been announced that Nicky was throwing a charity event to gain momentum in opening a center for at-risk youth, Red had been supportive but uncomfortable with the act of attending. A convicted felon, and not at all the socialite that Nicky, nor Marka was, she was adamant in not making a fool out of herself and remaining as inconspicuous as she possibly could.

"I'm glad you're having a good time, Ma," Nicky smiled at her, finding her hand and interlocking their fingers.

"The best time," Red told her happily. "I ran into your mother, you know. I thanked her for coming, and all that she's done to help you put this night together. I hope you did the same?" she asked her daughter sternly.

"Not yet," Nicky admitted. As her mother quirked an eyebrow at her, she shrugged. "But I will. I promise."

"Listen," the smile fell from Red's face. "You two have your stuff, and that's fine. I'm not telling you to become best friends with the woman, but not many people have the advantage that you have, Nicky."

"I know."

"I know you think she owes you—"

"I don't." Nicky objected.

"But you're a grown woman now," Red stroked her daughter's cheek gently. "She's put in a lot of time and money to help you get things up and running, something she didn't have to do. As a courtesy, the least you can do is tell her hello, and thank you."

There was a moment of silence that hung in the air between them. Red's blue eyes staring into Nicky's brown ones, as Gloria bowed her head and bored her eyes into the bottom of her champagne flute.

"Now?" Nicky asked finally, breaking the tension.

"Now," Red agreed. "The sooner you do it, the sooner you're done" She turned her daughter in the direction she had last seen Mrs. Nichols and swatted her backside playfully. Shaking her head as she watched Nicky disappear into the crowd, she turned back and slouched her shoulders. "That wasn't too harsh was it?" she asked Gloria concernedly.

"No."

"I hate to dismiss her feeling about her mother," Red explained, "but it's not like people get a chance like this every day, right? She should be grateful for that."

"She'll be okay," Gloria reassured her.

Sighing, Red anxiously rubbed at the discomfort surging in her lower back. "I guess you're right," she said finally. "Although, you usually are."

"I know," Gloria answered simply.

Red's eyes twinkled as she looked into Gloria's brown ones. "Are you having a good night?" she asked curiously. "I've hardly seen you this evening?"

"I've been dodging creepy Mr. Weston," Gloria said, nodding her head in the direction of the old perv. "All I found were more freaks, and rude wives, so I decided to make my way this way."

Red smirked, looking over Gloria's shoulder at the man behind her. "Should I be jealous?" she asked playfully, her eyes flickering.

Gloria opened her mouth to respond but then shut it quickly, her lips thinning in a tight line.

"What?" Red frowned at her. "Did something more happen?" She stepped closer to the woman who had become more than just a friend. "Gloria?" she questioned softly, her hand gently encompassing Gloria's free one. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Gloria exhaled a deep breath, biding her time to collect her thoughts. Her eyes found Red's, and a smile played softly on her lips. "I am just… completely captivated by you, ya know?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I love you. I love everything about you," Gloria told her, squeezing her hand tightly. "I've just been watching you all night and everything that you do, and how present you are for Nicky… how much you love your family. How much you've tried to get to know my family… I just want you to know, I really do love you."

"Gloria—"

"I mean it. I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true."

The weight of Gloria's words registered. They'd found so much within one another, a friendship, a companionship, as well as a love and an attraction that neither had been able to place or explain, but one that they both had made their best effort to cherish.

"I love you too," she told her, embracing her warmly. "I don't know why this works so well. I'd be lying if I said it didn't scare the hell out of me, but I love you too." She tightened her arms impossible around Gloria's waist. "Sometimes I just want to stay in our perfect little world and never leave. I'm terrified that something is going to ruin this."

"It won't," Gloria promised her. She didn't know why she felt so confident. None of her relationships had ever worked out well before, but there was something in her heart told her that this was different. "Why don't we get out of here?" she suggested against Red's ear. "We can make good use of the suite we rented?"

Red purred in the back of her throat, her eyes darkening with lust. "I like the way you think."

"I knew you would," Gloria smiled. She turned to set the champagne flute on the table next to her, and hand in hand, she and Red disappeared from the crowded ballroom, to enjoy their own definition of euphoria.


End file.
